Wednesday, November 25, 2009

China to the rescue

5 comments:

Caki Buckthal
said...

When I read the title of the article, I was expecting something along the lines of what China had done to mitigate its own carbon emissions coming from its country. I was very surprised to find that China was making an effort to mitigate carbon emissions by reducing the US carbon footprint and therefore reducing it globally. In the past unit, we talked a lot about how the US should take some leadership and help China to reduce its emissions. We said it would be good because US would then get all the credit, and since it is a global issue, taking care of it in China is just as good as in the US. So I agree with Professor Casey, why can’t the US step up and do something like this. I think it really makes the US government look really far behind the Chinese government. The article mentioned at one point that perhaps the reason is that the manufacturers of wind turbines are foreign? Hopefully after seeing what China is doing in Texas, the US government will do something as well.

I think the matter here lies in the turbines which are offered to the US with a reasonable price. And the US does not use self-supply turbines because its turbines are not as cheap as those made from China. There are many factors influence the price of turbines, and I think China can make them cheaper because it has cheap labor and resources at hand - the factors that US hardly has.

As I read other comments under the wsj entries, a person named Michael Peck mentioned the "Made in America" green manufacturing economy. It is not totally "Made in America" at all if the US wind farm uses the Chinese turbines. But the final goal is to lower the cost of energy for energy consumers as much as possible, even if the US has to purchase foreign turbines. Maybe one day the US can use all self-supply turbines if the consumers are willing to pay more money, or the US can figure out how to produce Made in US turbines with China's price.

When I read this article started to think about the economic growth that China has experienced recently. Just today we were talking about the increasing number of jobs and how it is effecting the lower class of China. This brings to light some of the economic inferiorities that the United States are currently presented with. For example, in the article the author points out the overwhelming number of foreign made wind turbines. China is already one of the leading countries in the solar-energy department. Now they are helping the US in another aspect of their green energy initiative. The United States need to get their ideas together and pass initiatives through a legal process that takes entirely to long to get things done quickly.

The United States really needs to step it up and become the leading country in reducing their carbon emissions. Like we have said in class, other countries look to the United States to set an example. Now that China is crossing into the US, what does that say about the US? Does China care more about reducing the global carbon footprint? As Caki mentioned, I do find it interesting that China has taken in interest in reducing the US carbon footprint, but has not made the same advancements for their country. Clearly, there is some economic benefit for China to invest in wind turbines in the United States or else they wouldn’t do it. The article mentions that the majority wind turbines are foreign made, but the United States is more than capable of making the turbines. Although I think what China is doing in Texas has many benefits, I think it should be an American investment not a foreign one.

When reading the line, "When built next year, it will add to Texas’ stature as the biggest wind-power state in the U.S," I would be inclined to applaud the U.S. in this important move towards clean energy, however, not in this case, as China will be the provider. Another telling line from the article, "The great attraction of Chinese turbines is meant to be the price, not their technological advancement." This is another case where a cheaper price is not actually cheaper when the opportunity costs are addressed. China's current ban is preventing the U.S. from playing a substantial role in the production of wind turbines, which as we have learned, wind is the cleanest source of energy and is an important part of a portfolio of energy sources that have the potential to heed our dependence on oil. One of the main complaints with turbines is that they hinder the aesthetics of the area in which they are placed. A smarter move for the U.S. would be to become the number one exporter of wind turbines/wind technology to places like China, this way the turbines would be dispersed rather than taking over land in the U.S.Lastly, we should not only be matching China’s development, but exceeding it. The U.S. is fortunate to have corporations that have the resources and funds to do so. GE is a leader in innovation, and has the ability to develop technologies as well as eliminate inefficiencies in the manufacturing of products and I feel the U.S. made a huge mistake by allowing this transaction, not only because we have foregone the opportunity to create jobs here, but also because we have set the example for the developing world to purchase wind power from China when the time comes. I have taken a number of classes with Professor Casey and since day one, have learned that we as a nation can make a choice to produce clean energy and export it (to countries with huge populations such as China $$$) or import it. It looks like the U.S. has made a choice, and in my opinion, the wrong one.